Battlefield
by gingerpunches
Summary: When Miranda starts school with the notorious Shepard twins, she didn't know life could be this interesting for a teenager like her. *A collection of one-shots for a highschool-AU I'm working on with a friend. Femshep/Miranda Lawson, Mshep/Steve Cortez, Tali/Garrus, and others along the way. Rating may change.
1. Just the Beginning

The twins were two things: completely devoted and forever insufferable.

Well, almost. Helene was the more rash of the two, prone to outbursts that nearly rivaled Vega's. She was a big attitude wrapped in a small package, which didn't deter her from putting herself on the top of the metaphorical food chain. The only person that had the same amount of pull as she did in the social hierarchy of the school was her brother, and it was no coincidence he was just as stubborn as she was. The two of them were forces not to be reckoned with – and Miranda knew it.

That didn't stop her, however. It should have, as much as Helene and Kane frightened her at first. Especially since their fights on the biotiball field usually left deep welts of burning biotic power in the earth, the light purple and white energy eating at the grass and dirt underneath. But the outbursts were kept away from other students, and as the top two biotics of the human race, they were given exemptions so they could fight. _It honed skill_, Anderson had said.

What kind of bullshit was that? Even now, it angered Miranda. She was genetically modified just for those kinds of fights, and yet, here were two perfect examples of nature - once again - biting her in the ass.

As much as the twins irratated her to no end, she wanted to get to know them. Helene caught her interest at first, for reasons she really didn't want to address right then, and her brother, Kane, was growing increasingly mysterious. As good as Miranda's detective skills were, she couldn't find much about him in the school files. At least, not a substantial amount of information that she didn't already know. He was calm and quiet, the captain of the biotiball team, and dating the best simulator pilot – second to Joker – in the entire school. He followed his sister just about everywhere, though, and she saw that as her opening.

So she took it.

"Uhm," she murmured. Kane turned around, his reflective blue eyes finding hers quickly. Something like a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth, but Miranda couldn't know for sure, it was gone so quickly. She shifted to her other foot. "You're one of the Shepard twins, right?"

He nodded. He was taller than she'd anticipated – two heads taller than herself, and she was considerably tall for a woman. He held himself with a quiet confidence, something Miranda admired, and couldn't say she did so much herself, anymore.

"If you're looking for my sister, she's probably in the biology rooms, tormenting Tali's dad or something," he said. He gestured towards the bio wing, his attention momentarily captured by a shorter latino male ambling towards them from that direction. She didn't recognized him until he'd gotten closer, where she could see his remarkable blue eyes. Kane's boyfriend, Steve Cortez.

She pushed a thick lock of her hair behind her ear and flattened a wrinkle in her pea coat. The cold was starting to seep through, and Kane was giving her an odd look – one brow cocked up, something like realization passing through his face before he masked it again behind the perpetual poker face he'd been rumored to keep up. She coughed into her hand and took a few steps towards the bio wing, waving minutely. "Well, uhm. Thank you."

She ducked her head and tried not to stomp away. She could feel the boys' eyes on her as she walked, the embarrassment already flooding her system growing hotter by the second, tricking her body into thinking she was boiling under the layers protecting her from the snow gently falling from the overcast sky above. How could she have acted that way? She was supposed to be cold and confident, not easily spooked by the tall blond twin of her almost crush!

She was supposed to be the queen her father paid so much money to be! Not this - this -

The doors opened to the bio wing and she stepped inside. She shook the snow off her shoulders and boots, realizing, after a few moments, what she'd just admitted to herself. A crush? On that brutish Shepard twin? That _female_ Shepard twin? She shuddered, thoughts of her father finding out flitting through her mind, the innumerable punishments he could inflict on her numbering in the hundreds. Why did she have to have a crush on _her_ and not her male twin? He certainly wasn't lacking in looks or intelligence!

Except that thought sent her reeling. She couldn't think that way, not when Helene's brother was already in a dedicated relationship, and especially since Miranda sort of needed this push to figure herself out. She'd been confused for a while, and this really put it in perspective, set things straight in her mind – in retrospect, she knew this was coming. Ever since seeing Helene on the field, using her biotics to her advantage, beating that Alenko kid in a simulated fight… it was obvious. It couldn't have been any other way.

The thoughts of her father didn't really scare her anymore, right then. She didn't have to tell him. Hell - she didn't have to say a word. As long as her marks were the highest in the school and she stayed out of trouble (that he was aware of), he could care less.

It didn't even hurt to think about that.

She sidled into one of the biology rooms, the only one open this late into the school day. Helene, Tali, and Garrus were at the back of the room, giggling about something. Helene glanced up, her eyes as breath-taking as he brother's, finding Miranda's gaze quickly. She smiled at Miranda and waved her over, as if they'd been friends for years, and Miranda couldn't help herself. She went over to her, her small smile shy and happy. Her heart fluttered in her chest, filling her with a deep feeling of completeness. She wouldn't say anything, not for now. But she felt better, knowing she'd come this far, knowing her crush was kind enough to speak to her and hang out with her.

It was enough.


	2. Heartstrings

"So, do you like her?"

Miranda jumped at his voice, whipping her head around to face him. Kane didn't look up from picking at the strings of his electric guitar, their sounds more like sharp plucks on a too-tight harp than the full, heavy sounds they made plugged into an amp. She didn't mind it, though. The song was nice. And being left alone with one's romantic infatuation's twin brother couldn't be that bad, right?

She swept her hands over her lap, dusting pollen and grass blades from the dark fabric of her skirt. "What are you talking about?" she asked flippantly. His brow raised, and if she wasn't watching him as closely as she already was, she was sure she would have missed the slight smirk forming on his lips at her question. He kept playing, the dark blue pick in his palm replacing his fingers after a couple seconds. He didn't look up at her.

"I mean – do you like my sister?"

What sort of question was that? How did he know, anyway? She swallowed and didn't respond. She didn't have to, if she didn't want to – knowing him, he'd drop it, content to leave her nervous and afraid of her own feelings. She cursed Ashley for taking the group with her to get lunch. No one thought the quiet, shy one of the Shepard twins could be so nosy.

Kane sighed. It drew Miranda out of her thoughts again. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the tree they were using as shade from the hot, humid heat of the summer afternoon. His tune changed from upbeat and shrill to something slower, more tonal and romantic. She knew he was doing it on purpose.

After a while, she uncrossed her arms with an annoyed exhale. "Why? Why do you want to know? So you can tell her and embarrass me?"

He looked up at her then, his eyes a piercing ice blue, but warm – unthreatening. His fingers stopped their dance across the guitar strings. He was staring at her sincerely, and it unsettled her, suddenly. "No," he said softly. "I don't want to know so I can embarrass you. She's my sister. I want to know that someone loves her – for real."

Miranda rolled her eyes. "We're in high school. Being in love is something we don't know about. It's just a stupid crush. I'll get over it."

He nodded, an odd look flitting across his face before it was masked under the blank look he wore every day. She felt like that was a sign, that maybe she'd said the wrong thing; maybe she didn't prove to him that she was worth his time, let alone his sister's. Perhaps she proved how emotionless she tried to pass off being.

She wanted to blame it on her father. She'd raised him in a cold, unfeeling house, with everything she wanted but his undivided time and support. She couldn't say if she wanted him to love him, but knowing that he cared about _her _and not what he wanted her to become would have been enough.

But she knew that wasn't true. This was her fault. She came to school with a sour attitude, and didn't seem in favor of dropping it any time soon. It protected her, shielded her from the prying eyes of the other students.

She was better than them, and she knew it. But in ways, she knew she wasn't. And this was one of them.

Before she could open her mouth again, to explain herself, he sat up. Even sitting down, he was taller than her, but he didn't look down his nose at her – he hunched himself down to her level. She didn't know if it was on purpose, or a bad habit. "Is that really how you feel, Miranda? That because we're only seventeen and eighteen, we're incapable of feeling love?"

He stared at her, his eyes lidded and unreadable. It unsettled her, so she looked away. But it wasn't just his eyes that made her skin crawl. That question – asked without any judgment or anger, just quiet understanding. Trying to make her see. She never thought she would be capable of feeling love, but here she was, her stomach fluttering at the mere thought of Helene, of her eyes, her hair, her laugh. Miranda had thought it was just teenager infatuation, just hormones and a lack of a sex life. But maybe that wasn't what she felt. Maybe this throbbing pain in her chest was real.

Suddenly, Kane was stringing together a tune, his fingers wandering aimlessly, but Miranda knew he could see the music in his head, as clear as words and pictures. When she turned to look away, she saw Ashley coming back across the lawn, Helene, James, and Steve following behind, bags of food in their hands. Their voices were cheerful, and by the time they reached her and Kane, she couldn't help the small smile forming on her lips.

Helene sat across from her brother, quietly coaxing him to set the guitar down and eat. He set it aside and took the burgers from her, while James and Ashley commenced arguing (again). Steve was mostly quietly, chiming in only when his witty comments could whittle James down, and in that moment, between some smartass remark and Helene smacking Kane in the knee, Miranda knew:

Love wasn't something people grew into. Sometimes it was found later in life, like most end up discovering it, but sometimes, if someone got lucky, it could be found during youth. And that, Miranda thought, as she and Kane met, that small, knowing smile on his face, that she had found it early.

And she was grateful.


	3. Pranks

The entire crew had a betting pool.

Granted, this was their normal routine. The twins would wind each other up, the crew would take bets on whatever it was they were doing, and credits were collected at the end of the week depending on who won. Normally, the twins would fight, try to outmatch each other, or prank each other. This week, it was the latter.

The aftermath of this week's pranks were apparent – and Miranda had to applaud the twins' resilience. Kane came to school on Tuesday morning with his normal pale blond hair dyed oily-black, following a rather nasty argument with his sister the day prior. Helene didn't look much better, her clothes all an alarming shade of bright lemon yellow. They didn't talk to each other, and the crew didn't feel like setting off their tempers, even given their patience was that of a saint's. Miranda and Steve even approached them with caution, something the two of them didn't normally have to do, but felt it was prudent, all the same.

On Wednesday, Helene's clothes were back to normal, and Kane's hair had returned to a more normal shade of blond. A gleam of silver caught Miranda's attention when he came to sit down at their usual table in the mess, and she couldn't hide the sudden snort of laughter that escaped her right then: a stud, about as big as a pinky nail, shined silver in his left ear, the skin around it red and angry (about the same color as his face, he was so embarrassed). Miranda glanced over to her girlfriend where she came over to sit next to her, and her smile was amused, if a bit pissed off. As Helene sat down, Miranda could see the same stud in her right earlobe. The entire table began to murmur with chatter and aborted chortles of laughter, James and Ashley among the louder of the group. Steve smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand as Kane sat down next to him, causing an eruption of snarking from nearly everyone at the table.

And the pranks only got worse.

By the end of the week, the twins had inflicted multiple modes of prank-dom on each other, ranging from the dyed hair and ear piercings to the mysterious wax slick on the biotiball court during Kane's game and the dead fish stuffed into the trunk of Helene's car. As if to witness the finale they would torment each other with, Miranda and Steve were invited over on Friday night, the twins having the house to themselves after their mother went off-world to run a couple errands for their father. Miranda was cautious – even a bit terrified – but Steve met her at the door, his quiet confidence soothing her nerves. They entered the twins' home together, prepared to see paintballs splattered on the walls or the place overrun with varren.

They were pleasantly surprised to find nothing wrong with the place. Miranda raised a brow and hung her coat next to the door, peeking into the living area with a curious tilt to her head.

"Nothing?" Steve said softly. Miranda turned to look at him, and shrugged her shoulders at his amused smile. "Did they call a truce?"

"I highly doubt it," Miranda answered. "You know those two."

Steve rolled his eyes. That answer was sufficient enough.

Surprisingly, the rest of the evening passed without incident. The twins greeted them kindly, nothing showing on their bodies, no new piercings, no odd hair or outfit colors. In fact, they got along with each other nicely, as much as the two of them could tolerate each other after Helene tattooed "KANE LIKES LATINO DICK" on his cheek and Kane shaved Helene's eyebrows off. Miranda was glad those two pranks were reversible, even though they were grand, in her book.

"So," Miranda started, after she and Helene had retired to Helene's room. Kane's was down the hall, and, thankfully, she couldn't hear what was going on. Although she suspected Steve was having a very similar conversation with his boyfriend. "Did you and your brother make a truce?"

Helene's smile was mysterious. She didn't say anything, simply pulling Miranda closer and kissing her. Miranda dropped it and let herself be kissed, her body falling easily into the routine. Helene gripped her hips and drew Miranda closer, their bodies tipping back onto the mattress behind them, and Miranda locked her arms around Helene's neck. She tangled the dark hair in her fingers, their kisses growing deeper and open-mouthed. Miranda let her legs fall apart as Helene pushed herself closer, and they began to rock their hips together, their hands coming down to caress each other's breasts and ribs.

After a while, when Helene had shed her shirt and Miranda was sucking a mark under Helene's jaw, a loud, surprised yell boomed down the hall and through the walls. It startled Miranda, and she flared her biotics briefly before Helene started to laugh, loud and hysteric. She fell off the bed and clambered up before falling again, Miranda looking on, dumbfounded and confused. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Helene was rolling on the floor, holding her ribs as she cried from how hard she was laughing – and then the bedroom door slammed open, a harried, angry, and _naked _Kane standing in the doorway.

He held a pillow between his legs – thank _God_ – but it was obvious he'd been in the middle of having sex with Steve. His chest was blushed pink and his hair was mussed from Steve's fingers, but his brow was stormy, and if looks could kill, Helene wouldn't even be breathing right then, let alone cackling with uncontrollable laughter. He was brandishing a tall plastic tube filled with a sticky, amber liquid, the cap off and dripping thick blobs of… something.

"What. Did you. _DO_," he growled. Steve's howls of laughter could be heard down the hall, and Miranda couldn't keep the smile off her face. She hid it behind her hand when Kane's glare glanced to her.

Helene seemed to have calmed down enough to answer, but small giggles escaped her every other breath. She sat up, using the edge of the bed to pull herself to her feet. She looked her brother straight in the eye, facing the storm growing in his bright blue eyes. "I replaced your lube."

"With WHAT."

Miranda didn't want to hear the answer. But curiosity killed the cat, right?

"Honey. At room temperature. It's sticky when it starts to cool, and not at all good for what you were trying to do, and if it isn't cleaned up, it starts to—"

"I don't CARE what it does!" Kane roared. He threw the bottle at his sister, who ducked, then proceeded to crumble into peals of laughter once again. Kane groaned and stomped out of the room after slamming the door. Steve's laughter only grew louder.

Miranda peeked over the edge of the bed at her girlfriend, who lay on the carpet with a satisfied look on her face. She leaned her chin on her hand, a curious look crossing her face.

"Was it worth it?"

"Totally."

Helene's smile was more serene than Miranda expected it to be. She'd just replaced he brother's lube with _honey_. That had to be an interesting mess to clean up. The image that passed through Miranda's mind, however, was not.


	4. First Meeting

"You can do this."

"No, Lena, _I can't_."

Lena groaned and took Kane's face between her hands. She was only fifteen but he felt like he was staring at his mom. It was disorienting. "Yes, you can. We know some of these people. And if you feel scared, just come find me – you can hide behind me and hold onto my dress and everything. I won't say a word."

Kane bit his lip and nodded grudgingly. They were already there at Ashley's party, Lena in a light blue chiffon dress, Kane dressed in something sort of resembling a tux, but more casual. He couldn't really back out – it would be rude to Ashley and her family – but he felt like he was drowning right there in the entranceway. He could hear the party out back, the chatter as people talked and the steady thump of music.

He took a deep, shaky breath. Lena dropped her hands after he let it out, and when he straightened up, she looked pleased, if a bit concerned around the edges of her eyes. He tried to smile but he knew it was cockeyed at best.

"You'll be fine," she said. He nodded wordlessly and turned after her, following her down the open hall and out into the back yard.

The sudden noise hit him like a brick wall once the back door was open. His hand shot out and latched onto the ribbons wrapping around Lena's waist. She slowed her graceful pace across the grass so he could hunch behind her, but when she shot a look over her shoulder to look at him, her face was guarded.

"Sorry," he muttered. He scanned the large yard, catching the eyes of a couple people he knew that were hanging around the other edge of the pool. He waved at them meekly before he let Lena's dress go. "I'll go stand with James. I know him."

Lena turned and gave him an odd look. "Alright, just – if something goes wrong, text me or come find me. I'll try to stay out here in the yard so you can see me, at least."

He couldn't put how grateful he was into words. So he hugged her instead, glad that his sister knew how anxious he got in crowds of people he didn't know. She hugged him back and patted his side, smiling – and then she was walking away, towards Ashley and a group of other girls that loitered under one of the large trees framing the pool.

Kane immediately started his quick trek around the glossy blue water, careful not to step too close in case some of the younger kids splashed him as they swam laps around the edge of the deep end. He nodded to James as he approached and took a spot on his right side, thankful that, for a change, no one in the group James was talking to seemed to want to notice him. A girl around Kane's age was standing on his other side, her arm hooked into a boy's crooked elbow. She was smiling and giggling at the sarcastic remarks James and a shorter, latino boy with bright blue eyes were shooting back and forth – Kane couldn't keep the smile off his face at some of the sharper ones (which seemed to be all of them).

"The only one you seem to be interested in is yourself, Vega," the blue-eyed boy said. His smile was wide and confident, and if Kane didn't know any better, he would think he and James were cousins with how he treated the linebacker.

"Please! I'm interested in plenty of girls, Esteban!" James shot back. "You just haven't see me around them!"

"That's because they don't want to _be _around you."

Kane snorted. His anxiety seemed to have melted away – this Esteban had a sharp tongue. Kane liked it.

"It looks like someone is getting the better of you, James," Kane said. He elbowed James in the ribs. A blush was crawling up the back of James' neck – Kane decided not to call it out. "I think you deserve it after all this time."

"You guys are terrible," the girl beside Kane said. She shook her head and waved goodbye before tugging her boyfriend off with her towards the barbeque. James rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Esteban, every time a hot girl is around you embarrass me in front of her," he said. Kane pretended not to see his pout. "When will you ever learn?"

"Learn that every girl you seem to be interested in is either _not _interested, taken, or batting for the other team? I don't know, I think you're the one that needs to learn."

Kane grinned at the less-than-playful shove James delivered to Esteban. "I like this guy. Who is he?"

"I'm Steve Cortez. This lug's best friend," Steve said. He stuck his hand out and Kane took it after a moment of debating whether he should take his words back or jump head first in the pool. His anxiety was suddenly flooding back into him, shoving against his ribs and clogging his throat. Steve's goddamned _eyes_.

James snorted. "_Best friend_."

Steve made a "duh, I'm your best friend!" face and shook his head. "Don't bother with him. He's just mad Ashley is getting her party before him."

"Why do you do that?" James snapped. "You don't have to tell everyone I'm younger than her!"

"I only do it because I love you, James," Steve snapped back. James huffed and stomped away, and Kane couldn't keep the small smile from pulling at the corners of his mouth. It was nice seeing James knocked down a notch.

"So what's your name?" Steve asked. "Usually I try to get to know someone before I tell them they look like they're going to dive into the pool and drown themselves."

Kane shrugged. He couldn't exactly counter that – he did feel like he was going to drown, be it in the pool or in his own head. He glanced around him before sidling closer so he wouldn't have to speak loudly over the noise. "Uhm, Kane. Shepard. I'm Lena's twin brother."

Steve nodded, making an approving sound in his throat before shoving his hands in his pockets. He seemed at ease, as if the crowds of people and the noise weren't needling into his brain and threatening to suffocate him in his own skin. It took a moment for Kane to remember that not everyone was as paranoid and socially anxious as he was.

"You know, there's a quieter room in the house we could go to," Steve suggested. Kane jumped at his voice, his cheeks heating up. Steve laughed. "I didn't mean like that. It's not that you aren't cute – you are – but I just figured you would like some place quieter, considering you seem like the kind of person not used to these types of things."

Kane shrugged again. He couldn't argue against that, either. How was this guy nailing all his thoughts and feelings to the wall like that?

Steve bit his lip and tipped his head – Kane caught his eyes in his peripherals and held his gaze. Steve smiled. "I could show you inside? There's video games."

Kane shot a quick look across the yard where he felt Lena's presence strongest and, like he knew she would, she caught his stare. She nodded and smiled at him wordlessly, giving him a thumbs up, and turned away again, chatting amicably with another girl. Kane turned back to Steve and gave a short nod – and found himself following the shorter boy into Ashley's house, where the noise wasn't as grating and oppressive.

A few other people were in the house, but mostly adults, so they didn't pay any mind to the two teens sitting on the couch in front of a large vidscreen. Steve tapped a holographic display on the coffee table and a video game console turned on. A set of controllers were laying on the coffee table's surface, and Steve gave Kane one, keeping another for himself.

"Thank you," Kane said meekly. "I don't have many friends besides James and Lena."

Steve waved him off, a well-meaning smile on his face. "It's not a problem. You looked kind of out of place when you showed up, anyway. Besides – you're _really_ cute."

Kane gripped the controller and turned his face away, aware of the hot, pink blush shooting up his neck and coloring his cheeks. Steve's laugh reached his ears like soft bells – Kane turned back around to see his toothy smile, his heart in his throat.

This guy was _complimenting _him. Kane had only really received compliments from his sister, and that was because she was supposed to. But Steve was calling him cute and was moving him to a place that would make him comfortable, as if he wasn't fifteen years old and wearing a goofy tuxedo. Kane played video games with him in a crush-induced haze, aware that Steve was laughing with him and not at him, his heart racing a million miles an hour and his anxiety stripping away with every soft smack to his shoulder whenever he won a round on the game.

Maybe this party wasn't so bad after all. The noise was still loud in the background, and when Lena came inside to help Ashley into her birthday dress, she was giving him a leer that would rival Vega's. But he felt good, in the company of this guy with the most gorgeous blue eyes he'd ever seen.

Parties? They were still kind of scary. But with Steve Cortez? Maybe he could do this after all.


	5. Update!

Hey guys! I'm sorry for such a long wait for the next chapter, but I just started my sophomore year of college and I'm kind of overloaded right now! But I'm writing intermittently as I go along, so don't worry - something will pop up within the next week. Thank you for your patience!


	6. Nervous

"Kane, you've done this before, right?"

Her brother eyed her from across the room. His expression didn't change much - when did it ever? - but she could tell the gears were churning. He continued to pluck on his guitar, regardless, his voice low and even.

"Played guitar? Yeah. What did you smoke, Lena?"

Lena snorted. She tried not to look nervous as she leaned back into the couch cushions and pretended to watch the vidscreen. But she could feel his prying gaze on him, like a carcass being studied by a mortician.

"I mean - you've done V... Valentine's Day shit before, right? With Steve last year."

She couldn't see his face out of the corner of his eye, but his voice was suspicious. "Yeah..."

"So... any ideas?"

"For you?"

A pause. Kane continued to play his guitar, the sound sharp and mute without an amp and speaker. It was hardly noticable over the noise of the show Lena wasn't watching, but for all how used she was to it, she could recognize the tune he was playing. It was the one he was trying to master for their concert at the end of the week. He still wasn't satisfied with it.

She'd asked him to play that song for her, without explaining why. It was a love song, one that, if she hadn't specified that he should play the guitar and vocal duet with her, he would have thought it was just another part of the concert. But he knew her, and knew that she had asked because she wanted to sing for Miranda.

She never asked him to do things. She usually just put the music in front of him and told him they were playing it that weekend. Asking wasn't part of the memo.

So she couldn't get herself out of this. Especially since she asked - both times. Asking for a specific song to be played and asking what he did on last Valentine's Day gave her away, no matter how hard she tried to mask it. She could feel Kane's amused mood across the living room.

"Alright, I understand," he drawled. He didn't look up from his fingers dancing across the neck of his guitar. "I can give you ideas."

"I just want to get it right," she clarified. She was being defensive - it amused him to no end, and she couldn't stop herself.

He shrugged. "Just - be yourself. I mean, being romantic is normal, like buying her flowers or a stuffed animal, or whatever, but doing something else works too. Jewelry, a movie, a dinner, maybe going out shopping - I don't know, depends on the person."

Lena bit her lip. "What did you do?"

His expression, however minutely, grew soft. "I bought him a silver chain. It's kind of dumb, but he liked it. Then I asked him what he wanted to do - anything, even if he wanted to go to an amusement park - but he settled on dinner and walking through the park. It was nice and quiet. I'm not telling you what happened after."

Lena snorted. She felt better, now that the focus was off of her and her anxiety over what to do for Miranda. They weren't dating yet, but she could feel that tension between them, taunt and ringing with the possibility of taking it further. She wondered idly if this was how Kane felt when he asked her what to do about asking Steve out, since she'd had the first girlfriend, and that thought settled her.

She could do this. It was just Valentine's Day.

"I know you're nervous."

She snorted. "Yeah. So?"

Kane shrugged again - it was the most expression he'd shown all day, but she could see the little quirk at the corners of his mouth, the tune he was practicing turning from romantic to something more upbeat. Maybe he was doing it on purpose. "Just do what feels right."

Lena rolled her eyes. But he was right. Every person was different - she couldn't go word for word what her brother had done with Steve (except maybe the very end; sex was usually a given).

She could do it. She just had to take the first step.


	7. The Fight

A/N: I'm so sorry about the super late update (and for a short one too)! I just got over midterms, got a car, and got a job, so I've been a bit busy. But as soon as my schedule evens out, there should be more frequent updates! Thank you for your patience! - "What the hell was that?" Kane tried not to turn around and fight. He didn't want to – especially with Steve. But it'd been only a couple minutes since he snapped at Lena, and really, he should've expected this. Just not so quickly. "Look, she – " Kane stopped walking and turned to face Steve. His boyfriend's face was drawn and dark. "She's stupid. She doesn't even realize what she's saying. One minute she's swooning over Aria – which I don't condone, by the way – and then the next she's battling off Kaidan to protect Miranda. She doesn't know what she wants, and it's going to bite her in the ass sooner or later." Steve scoffed. "So you would rather slap her in the face about it instead of letting her figure out her own feelings? How hypocritical." "I'm trying to help!" "Help," Steve deadpanned. He shook his head and turned away, down the hall. "You can't help if she doesn't know what's going on with her own feelings." Kane shoved a hand into his hair, trying desperately not to rip some out as he combed through it. He knew he was being two-faced, and he knew that Lena didn't really understand what was going on – she was special that way. Being as dunderheaded as possible was her forte. No one could live up to that level of sheer obliviousness. But Kane was like that too. Being twins had its limits, and this, apparently, was one of them. "She's either going to get herself killed tailing after Miranda, or she's going to get herself expelled and Aria fired for going after Aria," Kane said. Steve wouldn't look at him, but he had his hands on his hips and that stern look on his face – he was listening. "She doesn't know what she's gotten herself into. She doesn't think before she leaps. A lot of the time, she doesn't even know what's going on before she starts acting. I don't know how she gets by most of the time doing that, but this is where I draw the line." "The line?" Steve said. He looked at Kane – finally – but it was a look of disappointment. "She's your sister – you're supposed to help her through this, not force her to choose you or the girl – or girls – she's interested in. If she had done that to you, what would you say? What would you do?" "I would listen!" Kane seethed. "Of course I would be angry, but that isn't the point – Miranda's father is dangerous, and Aria is so far out of the question I can't believe we're still arguing about it!" "Because it matters to your sister!" Steve shouted. "That's not the point!" Kane shouted back. The hall suddenly went silent, Kane's voice bouncing down the lockers. Steve was staring him down – and even though he was several inches shorter than Kane, he felt stories tall, a giant glaring at ants. The sunlight peacefully filtering through the windows along the hallway seemed at odds with the tense atmosphere between them, and if Kane wanted to, he could reach out and touch the anger radiating off the both of them. But he couldn't stay angry forever. Especially about something he, ultimately, had no control over. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. Steve cocked a brow but didn't say anything. "I shouldn't be angry with you. Or Lena. This is her decision." "A decision," Steve added," she can make by herself." Kane nodded. "Yes, by herself." Steve sighed and crossed his arms, looking resigned. "Good. I'm sorry, too." Kane shrugged. "It's nothing to be sorry for. Let's just – go to practice. I'm forward today." Steve didn't argue. He turned on his heel and led Kane down the hallway and out of the building towards the gym, his shoulders tense – doing nothing to alleviate Kane's own discomfort. Maybe it was the argument, or maybe it was how quickly Kane gave up, but he didn't have the energy to do much of anything, let alone play biotiball or argue further about his sister's lust after two different women. The thing was that Kane wanted to like Miranda (and she was certainly a hell of a lot better than Aria, at least as far as the age gap was concerned), but he just couldn't, especially with Miranda's father being one of the most dangerous men the galaxy could ever spit out. But he couldn't make that decision for Lena. He could shove and push her in whatever direction he wanted, but it all came down to what she wanted – and right now, that was Miranda, come Hell or high water. 


End file.
